


A New Resolve

by MuchCookiez



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fontcest, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Off-screen Relationship(s), Papyrus (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Papyrus Once Again Being My Favorite Blunt Cinnamon Roll, Platonic Relationships, Swapfell Sans Needs A Hug, Worried Papyrus (Undertale), suicide ideation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27566404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuchCookiez/pseuds/MuchCookiez
Summary: Papyrus gets a new scar and a new friend.
Relationships: Papyrus/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	A New Resolve

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nilchance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilchance/gifts).
  * Inspired by [starry-eyed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24045922) by [nilchance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nilchance/pseuds/nilchance). 



> A gift for nilchance and a little side story to their space pirates series, starry-eyed. I wuv u :3
> 
> I was curious as to what Papyrus would be doing while he searches for Sans. I think he'd have his own little adventures and I wanted an excuse to slap on some Swapfell, so here you go!

_ 744 days. _

_ 24 ½ months. _

_ 17,520 hours and 1,051,200 minutes and counting. _

2 years and 14 days since Papyrus had been sent out to the somewhat riotous planet of Verse to organize the new trade deal. He’d never made it to the meeting. Upon docking the ship, he’d been greeted by what he had thought to be his weird escorts to the capital, but was instead brought to a rather dingy building in the opposite direction.

He hadn’t understood.

Deltarune didn’t have enemies. As the ambassador, he’d strived to make all welcome to their planet. Well, aside from the Fell verses, but that hadn’t been his decision. Asgore, or King Fluffybuns as he liked to call him, hadn’t been the only one who knew of the horrors that went on in those colonies. The people of Deltarune weren’t big on politics, but they made up for it in gossip. Almost everyone took pity on the sufferings of those dark provinces, but Papyrus was the only one to jump up and offer assistance. He hadn’t even finished his proposal before Asgore dismissed him.

_ “Those colonies are beyond help, Papyrus,” said Asgore briskly. He wasn’t adamant about many things, so he’d shocked Papyrus at his rather rude interruption. “I have forbidden all interaction with all Fell verses. Any attempts to reach out to them will be meant with severe consequences.” _

_ “Oh…” _

_ The righteous fire went straight out of Papyrus’s spine and he took his seat again. Undyne flashed him a small smile and patted him on the back. Papyrus would have appreciated the attempt at the kind gesture if she wasn’t so heavy handed. _

_ Asgore looked disheartened, but he would not go back on his word. His people. His priority. “I’m sorry, Papyrus.” _

It wouldn’t be the last time he heard those words.

When Papyrus had arrived back from the worst two weeks of his life, it was no surprise that Sans had left to go after him. Undyne was there to catch him when he was ungraciously shoved off the ship. His kidnappers had fled before her spear could make contact with the bay doors.

Once they’d made it to the med-wing, he was bombarded with questions, but he’d tuned them all out. The kidnappers had been after Sans. Sans had gone looking for Papyrus which means he would follow his trail. He would go to Verse and when he landed the exact same thing,  **or worse** , was going to happen to him.

They weren’t able to get him on the table. He couldn’t sit still. He had to go. He had to save Sans. Why couldn’t they understand? His brother--

Was standing right in front of him.

Sans stood with his back to him in the dimly lit hallway outside the community mess hall. He was examining something Papyrus couldn’t see, but it didn’t matter. Papyrus had finally found him.

“Sans?”

He hadn’t meant to call out, but it was a habit by now. Years and years of calling after his brother when he was looking suspiciously quiet or waking up from a night terror. Old habits die hard.

The skeleton whipped around and fast as a snake, sent a bone shard flying straight at his face. Papyrus is caught off guard and the delay gets him clipped on the side of his cheek at a last minute dodge.

He isn’t given enough time to recover from the shock. The smaller skeleton is rushing towards him, two sharp bone daggers clenched in their fists and very, very angry.

Before they can make contact, Papyrus summons a large shield of bones to protect him.

The skeleton hits the shield with a loud  _ bang _ , but it doesn’t have any power behind it. Something happened in the short span of time he tried to hurt Papyrus. Now that the shorter skeleton was closer, Papyrus was hit with the crushing reality that while this edgy skeleton was identical to his brother, it was not Sans.

This skeleton was heavily scarred. Across his left eye are three claw marks that looked as if something (or someone) had tried gouging out his eye. His eyelights were dark blue and his mouth, filled with sharp teeth, was set into a scowl. 

Papyrus wanted to think that it was easy to mistake the other for his brother. It had been some time since they’d seen each other, and Sans had such low standards when it came to taking care of himself, that he wasn’t thrown off by the raggedy outfit and red bandanna.  _ Sans had worn plenty of questionable things that Papyrus would even begin to consider proper clothing.  _ It wasn’t like he was slowly forgetting what his brother looked like. It was a mistake. Nothing more.

“I’m sorry,” Papyrus says sincerely, “I wasn’t trying to frighten you.”

The other just stares at him. His weapons hadn’t vanished, but his previously angry expression had faded into something unreadable.

“My name is Papyrus. I’m from Deltarune.” Blood is running down the left side of his face. It rolls down his cheekbone to drip onto his shirt.

Lapis eyes track the blood’s movement. When it stains Papyrus’ shirt, they seem to decide on something. They back up from Papyrus to hit him with a check that’s as subtle as a slap to the face.

When they speak their voice sounds rusty, like it’s unused or overused. It’s hard to tell the difference. “I could’ve killed you, you fucking idiot.”

Papyrus winces at their blatant lack of manners. “My apologies. I thought you were somebody I know.”

Their expression crumbles for a moment and Papyrus gets a glimpse of the raw grief that lies underneath. They let out a short, humorless laugh and ask, “Let me guess, your brother?” 

The question isn’t one of genuine concern. It’s a taunt. There’s something humorous about Papyrus’s situation.

Even so, Papyrus doesn’t take offence. Whatever this skeleton’s problem is, it's not with him. By the looks of it, life hasn’t been too kind to the monster before him. So he believes any venom they spit at him is not intentional.

“Yes,” Papyrus answers. He’s about to disassemble his shield, but he pauses. “If I unsummon my shield, are you going to attack me again?”

There’s a brief pause, one that makes Papyrus think about reconsidering his life choices.

“You make one wrong move, and I’ll dust you.”

Papyrus doesn’t know what constitutes as a wrong move to this skeleton, but he’s going to assume it means any sudden movements.

“Deal,” he says. One minute the shield is there, then it's gone. The only traces are the tiny dust and magic particles in the air. If Sans were here, he would be uneasy about Papyrus being the first to lower his defenses, but he’s hoping the little angry monster will take it as an act of peace, rather than foolishness.

Some of the tension leaves the other’s shoulders and the deadly bone shards turn to dust as well. Papyrus lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

Regaining his posture, he puts his hands on his hips and smiles. “Now that my life isn’t being threatened, I want to formally introduce myself. I am the Great Papyrus, previous ambassador of Deltarune and friend to all!”

Something akin to a smile twitches at the sides of the other’s maw, but he doesn’t say anything.

Papyrus waits for the other to return the favor. They don’t. “Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

A sigh slips past their teeth and they fold their arms across their chest. “I’m Black and this is--” He chokes as he’s about to gesture to someone who’s not there. Papyrus can see the heartbreak in his eyes as he momentarily forgets himself. Shiny blue magic wells up in his eye sockets and his folded arms look more like he’s trying to hold himself together rather than defend himself. “I’m…” His voice cracks and he curses. He clears his throat to try again. “I’m Black.”

Back on Deltarune, whenever he’d see someone on the verge of something unpleasant, his first response would be to wrap his arms around them and try to squeeze the sadness out. It’d worked plenty of times, especially with Sans… He wants to do the same here, but he doesn’t want a repeat of earlier. So he does the next best thing.

“Are you alright?”

Black bristles, and looks like he forgot he wasn’t alone. “Your brother,” he states, completely ignoring the question. “What’s his name?”

“Sans. He’s been missing for two years.” Black says nothing. So he continues. “I was on my way to a meeting at Verse when I was kidnapped by a group of humans and monsters. They kept asking me about my brother--”

“What’s so special about him?”

_ He’s my brother. _

“He’s a judge,” Papyrus says quietly. He didn’t know if Black worked with the kidnappers, but he figured after two years, the odds of running into them would be pretty slim.

He isn’t sure whether to take Black’s lack of response as good or bad. He isn’t like most people Papyrus has met. His eyes didn’t light up at the mention of a judge. Instead, they dimmed and he dug his claws into his arms. “Go home.”

Papyrus exhales and takes out a handkerchief to touch the gash. The bleeding stopped, but the blood is still sticky enough to cling to anything else. He dabs at the wound and looks Black dead in the eye. “I will once I find him.”

“You won’t,” snaps Black. “And even if you do, he won’t be the same.”

He tucks the bloody tissue back into his inventory in time to see the look of despair painting Black’s face. “What do you mean by that?”

“Every power hungry bastard wants a judge, but they don’t always like who it’s attached to. So, they’ll do anything to bring out the judge until….” Black inhales sharply like he’d gotten hit and applies more pressure to his claws until they pierce his ulna. When he speaks again, his voice nearly breaks. “Your brother is gone.”

“No.” It comes out more desperate and bitey than he means it to, but Black is scaring him. The possibility that Sans could just be **_gone_** is scaring him. The thought of even returning to Deltarune without him is terrifying. It honestly hadn’t crossed his mind that he could be too late.

Black was quiet, but he was watching Papyrus process this new information with a sympathetic half-smile that held no warmth.

“No,” he repeats. He can’t think otherwise. He hasn’t come all this way for nothing. He loves Sans too much to give up on him like this. He’s always encouraging his brother to keep going, to make it another day, another year… What kind of brother would be to go back on his word? Sans would probably forgive him, but Papyrus would never forgive himself. “I’m sorry, Black, but I can’t do that. I appreciate your advice, but I can’t give up on my brother.”

A flicker of rage crosses Black’s face. Then he’s back into Papyrus’ space with a bone shard pointed at his very exposed neck. “I did  _ not _ give up on my brother.”

Papyrus holds himself upright. He doesn’t even flinch. “I’m not saying you did.”

He hoped the tone of his voice conveyed the truth that Papyrus firmly believed all skeleton monsters were a packaged deal. It didn’t matter what planet they came from or how divergent their personalities were. They always had each other's back. Always.

With so little of their race left, killing another seemed very impetuous.

Black hasn’t stabbed him yet, but he’s watching Papyrus’ face for any hint of deceit.

It’s not hard to guess, but he knows something horrible happened to Black’s brother. As he too was a judge, just like Sans, he was constantly under the threat of other’s greed.

No matter how hard Papyrus tried to wrap his head around it, it never clicked. Judges weren’t just some all knowing system, they were monsters with real feelings and real loved ones who cared too much to let them go…

There’s a shift of air. Black dismisses his weapon and falls to his knees.

Papyrus gives him some space, but he’s never liked looking down on someone, so he mimics Black’s current position.

The fire was doused as soon as it started. His eyes are hollow, ringed with shadows just like Papyrus’ from the lack of sleep and constant worry.

“I failed him,” Black says quietly. It sounds like less of a confession and more of a mantra; as if he’s repeated it multiple times to himself when things got too quiet. He grips the bandanna around his neck. It’s dirty and riddled with holes. “He’s gone…”

Papyrus chooses his next words very carefully and lowers his voice. “I don’t believe anyone is ever truly gone.” He waits for Black to attack him. He doesn’t, so he continues. “He’s your brother. It doesn’t matter what they do. Nothing will change that.”

“He wasn’t just my brother,” says Black. He raises his head to look up at Papyrus. Tears are cascading down his cheeks. “He was m-mine and I was his.”

Slowly, Papyrus raises his hands and places them on Black’s trembling shoulders. Again, he waits for Black to defend himself. He doesn’t. “Black, he still is.”

The smaller skeleton shakes his head, sending lapis tears flying onto the cold metal ground. “He’s not… His first test as judge was to kill me. Rightfully so. I let him turn into this monster. I pushed him too hard-- I just wanted to help him--”

“Stop.”

To his surprise, Black halts his guilt trip and looks up at Papyrus as if he holds all the answers to the world. It’s uncomfortable and too similar to the looks he received when he was Deltarune’s ambassador. A sea of eyes that waited for one of his inspiring speeches on today’s mini-crisis. But Black isn’t just a face in a crowd. He’s someone on the verge of a fatal surrender. If Papyrus allows him to give up now, he’s giving up on Sans and the many more who have already suffered. He can’t do that to Black. He can’t do that to himself.

He takes a deep breath to steel himself, then says. “You can’t believe your brother is gone. If you do, you’re giving up on him.” Black flinches and tries to pull away, but Papyrus holds him there. “Doesn’t he deserve better than that?”

“Of course he does!”

“Great, well  _ you _ also deserve better than that.”

Black averts his eyes.

“He didn’t kill you, which means you're still alive for a reason.”

Black opens his mouth to speak, but Papyrus holds up a hand. “If you honestly believe he deserves better, you'll try to save him. If you don’t, then we can go our separate ways, but you’ll be living with the guilt of that uncertainty for the rest of your life. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound very fun.”

Once more, Black is silent, but this time Papyrus lets him be. It’s Black’s decision on whether or not to take his advice. No one can make the choice but him.

He gets up, stretching out his spine and brushing the gross space dust off his pants. He’s got an hour to kill before the next bus leaves. Maybe he’ll call Undyne and tell her about his cool new scar.

Unexpectedly, Black follows. He’s wiped the remainder of the tears off his face and set his shoulders. Shark-like teeth peek out from the half-smile he gives Papyrus. “He’s going to try and kill me again.”

Papyrus nods. “Probably, yes.” 

Black’s smile grows. He looks downright devilish. “I’m not going to make it easy for him.”

“Easy is boring anyways.”

Black sticks out his hand for Papyrus to shake. He doesn’t hesitate. He offers his hand right back and pulls Black into a hug. The other mutters something unintelligible before relaxing and wrapping his arms around the other.

“Thank you,” he mutters into Papyrus’ chest.

“Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Notes:  
> Papyrus feels like he's the reason Sans went missing, Black feels guilty for Slim possibly being taken over by the judge, guilt trip's ahoy, suicide ideation, reference to Slim being tortured by an offscreen asshole, they aren't Grey, but I feel like there would be a lot of other people who have a similar idea. And by similar idea, I mean like torturing the judge until they agree to do whatever they want.


End file.
